FLORENCE ELDRIDGE was the wife of Fredric March. They were married from May 30th, 1927 until Freddie's death in April 1975. Fredric and Florence March appeared in seven films and numerous plays together.
Florence Eldridge was born on September 5th, 1901, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of James Eldridge and Clara Eugenie McKechnie. Her formative education took place at the Girls' High School in Brooklyn.
Florence's professional debut on the New York stage was as a chorus member in Jerome Kern's "Rock-A-Bye Baby" in 1918. The role that brought her to prominence on Broadway was that of Annabelle West in "The Cat and The Canary". She subsequently appeared in Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1922) and as Daisy in "The Great Gatsby" (1926).
Fredric March met Florence Eldridge in the dining car of a Denver-bound train in May of 1926. They were contracted as the leading man and woman of Elitch's Gardens summer stock theater, in Denver, Colorado. After playing the season there, they were married the following May and later adopted two children, Penny and Anthony. Among the notable plays in which Florence appeared with her husband were "The American Way", "The Skin of Our Teeth", "Years Ago" and "Long Day's Journey into Night". On screen she played Elizabeth I in "Mary of Scotland", Fantine in "Les Miserables", and Mrs Brady in "Inherit the Wind" (all with March), while her best role was probably in "An Act of Murder" (1948). Florence Eldridge died on August 1st, 1988, aged 86. |
